Best known for their thorns, silvery-green leaves, and their bright orange berries (oval and just under an inch long), Sea-Buckthorns have a lot more to offer... edible berries that are very high in vitamin C and antioxidants, drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing, tolerates maritime environments, can form a fruit-bearing windbreak or living fence, has almost no pests or diseases, and requires minimal maintenance. I have not eaten or grown this plant yet, but I plan to if I can while I am living within sight of the ocean.

Originating in Asia and eastern Europe, there are 7-8 Sea-Buckthorn species/sub-species. The Common Sea-Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is by far the most widespread and cultivated. The vast majority of these plants are cultivated in China, and they are used due to their soil and water conserving properties. Many of the improved varieties of Sea-Buckthorn were developed in Russia.

Trivia:

Sea-Buckthorn has not become more popular on a larger scale due to the difficulty with large-scale harvesting. The fruit does not come off easily with any mechanical means (pickers squash the berries and shakers can harvest less than half the ripe fruit), so the only good way to harvest is slowly with our bare hands... the old-fashioned way. Perfect for the home grower!

Sea-Buckthorn berries contain one of the highest levels of vitamin-C (15 times that of oranges!).

Harvesting: Late Summer-Early Autumn. Pick when the berries are bright orange and just starting to soften. The fruit does not fall off the plant until it is past its prime. The thorns can make harvesting difficult (i.e.painful!), so go slow. Some people will even clip berry-laden branch, stick it in the freezer for a few hours, and then easily shake the frozen berries off into a bucket.

Minimal. However, since plants will fruit best on branches that are 2-years-old, regular pruning will increase yields, but it is not necessary. May need to prune back suckering roots to keep the plant under control... to keep it from forming a thicket.

Concerns:

Sea-Buckthorn can spread fairly easily through seed or root suckering.

Thorns can make it a hassle to harvest.

Widely known for juice, Sea-Buckthorn has many attributes making it worth growing.

27 comments:

Does anyone know what would make could companion or guild plants with this? I am planting two tomorrow but can easily add in companions. I am thinking that because it is a nitrogen fixer, the possibilities are vast.

I found the deer here in central montana love the young new seaberry plants. Not enough thorns on the small plants. Some form of protection needed such as deterrent sprays which helps but doesn't prevent, or fencing...I don't think the deer will bother established seaberry shrubs because of the thorn development.

The foliage (not berries) has been used as a feed for horses in indigenous cultures, so I imagine deer may browse it. I have 4 bushes Zone 6B at 4,600' elevation with considerable deer pressure and have not had any deer damage. Plant endures drought well once established. Mine are planted with following companions/guild: mulberry, crabapple, nanking cherry, yucca, jujube, prickly pear cactus, culinary sage.

Hi : We are in central Alberta Canada and have many sea buckthorn in our field shelterbelts...the berries and plants are fantastic...but...get them when they are ready or you may receive the surprise we did...after harvesting some fruit we returned to find our plants devoid of any fruit + some broken branches...a munching has occured ..deer or moose..! ... at least we harvested some berries...!

KBCagri is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of plant growth promoters in bangalore, india. plant growth promoters manufacturers in karnataka, plant growth promoters manufacturers in india. VIEW MORE :- Plant growth promoters